Roll containers are used for various tasks ranging from transporting only one large piece. e.g. a painting, to transporting a large number of small items, e.g. letters. For the purpose of transporting large items it is quite common to order a new roll container without any accessories, whereby the roll container only contains a chassis, castors and two fixed walls. For the purpose of collecting small items, however, a new roll container is typically ordered with a shelf for dividing the inner volume of the roll container, which not only improves occupational safety but also protects the collected items in the bottom section of the container from the weight of stacked items in the same batch.
FIGS. 1 to 5 illustrate one example of such an accessory shelf (200) which is designed to be installed between the opposing side walls (110, 120) of a roll container during the manufacture of the roll container (100). The first end (210) of the shelf (200) is pivoted to the frame profile (111) of the first wall (110) via a hinge (211) which is locked to the profile (111) by means of screws (cf. FIG. 2). The first end (210) also has a support (212) which limits the vertical movement of the shelf (200) by engaging with a horizontal wire (113) of the mesh of the first wall (110) from below. The opposing end (220). i.e. the second end, of the shelf (200) has downward extending and curved protrusions (222) for further limiting the angular position of the shelf (200) to the horizontal position by engaging with a horizontal wire (123) of the mesh of the second wall (120) from above (cf. FIGS. 3 and 5). The second end (220) of the shelf (200) also has an upwardly extending straight protrusion (221) which is used for locking the shelf (200) to a vertical folded position in which the protrusion (221) engages with a specially designed angular wire in the mesh of the first wall (110) (cf. FIG. 4).
The average life span of a roll container is about 10 years. During its expected life span, the roll container may be used for new tasks which require features which were not installed in the original configuration of the roll container. One example would be a roll container which was originally intended to be used for transporting a small number of large items within a factory and which is subsequently used for collecting a large number of smaller items for shipping outside the factory. Should the purpose of the roll container change to the collection of smaller items, it is necessary to install a retrofit shelf for dividing the inner volume of the roll container.
A problem associated with known accessory shelves for roll containers is that they require the use of tools, e.g. in attaching the hinge (cf. FIGS. 2 and 5). Simple non-folding shelves are also known, but they are not ideal for the reasons that detachable become lost very easily as—instead of folding away—they must be stored somewhere.
It is therefore an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a folding accessory shelf for a roll container which may be readily retrofitted.
It is a particular aim to provide a folding accessory shelf for a roll container which may be retrofitted without the use of tools or modification of the roll container in any way.